For many readers, discovery doesn’t start on your store page. It starts where they hang out, compare notes, and build “to-be-read” piles. Nail your Goodreads book marketing and BookBub presence, and you’ll catch readers before they decide what to buy, not after. Here’s a clear, UK-English guide to setting up professional profiles, earning reviews without nagging, and running promotions that actually move the needle, then joining the dots across your wider campaign. If you’d like the heavy lifting handled, our book marketing services can plan, execute, and report the lot.
Step 1: Build Trust With Best-In-Class Profiles
Goodreads: claim, clean, and clarify
Claim your Author Profile, merge duplicate editions, and check series data. Lead with a tight bio in your book’s voice, a current headshot, and links to your site and socials. Sync blog updates if you post regularly, and pin one “Start here” update with a sampler and retailer buttons on your book launch website. Add a short video intro if you have one; readers love a human hello.
BookBub: concise and conversion-ready
Keep your tagline and bio punchy; upload a sharp cover suite and choose strong “Also Featured” comps so the recommendation engine knows where to shelve you. If you’ve written across genres, divide by pen name or set expectations clearly to avoid confusing followers.
Pro tip: carry consistent visuals (cover, colour, tagline) across both profiles. Recognition breeds trust and clicks.
Step 2: Prime Ethical Reviews And Shelf-Adds
Goodreads reviews and BookBub recommendations shape reader behaviour, retailer algorithms, and ad performance. Invite them without pressure:
- Add a polite line in your back matter: “If this book helped you, a short review on Goodreads or BookBub helps other readers find it.”
- Run a small Goodreads Giveaway timed to land copies a week before your big push. Quick fulfilment + a friendly thank-you message = higher ratings posted.
- Offer early eARCs to your book launch street team with crystal-clear expectations: retailer review first, social posts later.
Surface the best lines on your page, art, and retail descriptions. That’s tasteful social proof, not bluster.
Step 3: Run Promotions That Meet Readers Where They Browse
Goodreads promotions that build momentum
- Giveaways: Use a short, punchy hook (“Locked-room mystery in a Cornish storm”) and pick formats that match your goal: print for prestige, ebook for speed. Time them around seasonal book marketing moments (spooky October, cosy December).
- Author Q&As: Announce a 45-minute window with 3–4 seeded questions; pin the thread in relevant groups. Afterwards, extract two answers for an update and your site.
BookBub promotions that convert
- Featured Deals/Recommendations: Price drops (temporary or series-starter) are still the most reliable way to scale. Make your blurb scannable, foreground tropes/outcomes, and ensure backmatter points to your next title.
- Ads: Keep creative brutally simple: cover, one-line promise, price, and CTA. Test audiences built from author comps. Rotate 2–3 headlines weekly and cut losers fast.
Track performance in your book marketing analytics dashboard: impressions, CTR, cost per click, and, most importantly, retailer conversions and read-through.
Step 4: Tie Platforms To A Bigger Plan (So Effort Compounds)
Goodreads and BookBub shouldn’t live in silos. Thread them into your launch rhythm:
- Announce pre-orders with a BookBub New Release Alert and a Goodreads Event; push to a bonus hub on your book launch website, smart book preorder marketing.
- Pair a Goodreads Giveaway with a short virtual book reading; pin the replay and add a “Review here” link underneath.
- Coordinate a mini PR burst (book press release) so media hits, giveaways, and a temporary price drop stack into one visible week.
- Line up two creator features during the same window, measured influencer marketing for books beats scatter-shot gifting.
International readers? Set geo-smart links and, where possible, localise ad copy, a small but vital step for respectful international book marketing.
Step 5: Use Audio To Widen The Top Of the Funnel
Audio sells the promise in 30 seconds. Post a short clip to Goodreads updates and BookBub Posts, then point to your preferred retailer. If you’re running a price promo on the ebook, use the audio snippet as the hook; the lift often spills into listens. That’s everyday audiobook marketing that doesn’t require a studio day, just a well-chosen excerpt.
Step 6: Collaborate For Reach You Can’t Buy Alone
- Swap newsletter mentions with aligned authors and co-host a Q&A thread, simple cross promotion for books.
- Coordinate with curators for a limited insert or exclusive cover variant, tasty book subscription box marketing fodder that creates unboxings and fresh reviews.
- Invite libraries to request your title off the back of a Goodreads display; follow with a short, curriculum-friendly session, and practical library book marketing.
Every partner gets a unique, trackable link. Numbers, not vibes, decide who you invite back.
Step 7: Measure What Matters (And Fix The Thinnest Link)
In your book marketing analytics stack, track a few KPIs weekly:
- Goodreads: giveaway entries, TBR adds, review velocity.
- BookBub: follower growth, Ad CTR/CPC, Featured Deal ROI by store.
- Downstream: retailer click-to-purchase, email sign-ups, read-through to Book 2.
If CTR is strong but sales are soft, the landing copy or price may be your bottleneck. If giveaway entries are high but few reviews appear, tighten fulfilment and add a friendly post-read nudge.
A Practical 8-Week Roadmap You Can Reuse for Goodreads Book Marketing
Weeks −8 to −7
- Claim/tidy both profiles; unify visuals and bios.
- Build a lightweight landing section on your book launch website; wire tracking and geo-links.
Weeks −6 to −5
- Submit for a BookBub price promo (or schedule your own).
- Schedule a Goodreads Giveaway to end 7–10 days pre-promo.
Weeks −4 to −3
- Announce a Q&A thread; prep a 30-second audio clip.
- Brief two creators and your book launch street team.
Weeks −2 to −1
- Finalise podcast book marketing slots; publish a short teaser.
- Issue your book press release; add press logos to the landing page.
Promo week
- Goodreads Giveaway wraps; copies land; BookBub deal starts.
- Q&A thread live; 30-minute virtual book reading with a cliff-hanger excerpt.
Week +1
- Thank readers; share top reviews as images; retarget warm audiences.
- Log results; bank the winners; schedule the next light push (perhaps a seasonal book marketing angle or a territory-specific test).
Common Pitfalls (And The Simple Fix)
- Messy metadata: duplicate editions and wrong series order tank discoverability. Fix in week one.
- Over-long blurbs: readers skim. Lead with outcome/trope and cut the waffle.
- One-and-done promos: discovery is rhythmic. Plan quarterly touches rather than one big blast.
- No follow-through: if winners wait weeks, reviews won’t appear. Fulfil fast and follow politely.
Example Mini-Campaign (Romance Author, UK Focus)
- Goodreads Giveaway (50 ebooks), 14 days, ends a week before promo.
- BookBub Ad set: comp authors A/B tested across three headlines.
- One BookBub follower post and one Goodreads update with an audio kiss-scene clip.
- Joint IG Live (20 mins) with another romance author; link to both titles and the replay.
- Local library talk booked off the back of the Q&A thread; photos (with permission) recycled as updates.
One tidy week, multiple touchpoints, and measurable lift across reviews, sales, and followers.
Bringing It All Together
Profiles and promos aren’t glamorous, but they’re the engine of discoverability. Build trust with clean pages, encourage reviews ethically, time Goodreads and BookBub push to reinforce each other, and measure outcomes so each round funds the next. Done with intent, Goodreads book marketing stops being “another thing to manage” and starts being the reliable spine of your reader-acquisition plan.
If you’d rather not juggle calendars, artwork, targeting, and tracking, our book marketing services can manage campaigns across both platforms, aligning giveaways, deals, audio clips, creators, PR, and your site, then report back in plain English. You bring the book; we’ll make sure the right readers see it.